Fran Kos

A monstrous law was in effect in the occupied territory of Serbia: for every German soldier killed, 100 civilians were executed, and for every wounded, 50. During the genocide, the Ustaše systematically expelled Serbs from their homes in Croatia and Bosnia. Entire villages were driven from their homes, their property confiscated. The Italian occupiers also carried out punitive operations, burning villages and deporting civilians to camps.

People fled to the forests and mountains, to join the partisans, or simply tried to survive in inhumane conditions, losing contact with their families. The average person couldn't earn a living, as the entire economy worked solely for the occupiers.

Money was rapidly losing its value. Prices were rising so rapidly that wages paid in the morning were worthless by evening. People returned en masse to barter, as national currencies became worthless paper.

The Ustaše ideology was built on radical Croatian nationalism. The existence of the Serbian nation as such was denied. Serbs were declared not a separate people, but "corrupted Croats," "slaves," or "barbarians" who supposedly had no right to their own state or culture.

For the Ustasha, the very presence of Serbs in territory they declared "ancestral Croatian" was an insult and a threat. This rhetoric transformed the Serbs into a biologically alien and hostile element that needed not just to be defeated, but physically eliminated. The Serbian Orthodox Church was subjected to brutal persecution: churches were destroyed and priests were killed.

Orthodoxy was perceived by the regime as a symbol of Serbianness, so the destruction of the Orthodox faith was part of the plan to exterminate the Serbian people. Serbs were required to wear armbands or patches with the letter "P," which stood for "Orthodox."

Serbs, along with Jews and Roma, were declared "undesirable elements" with no place in the "pure Croatian nation."

He doesn't hate the Serbs so much as it's been forced upon him, but he's used to feigning disgust. He doesn't want to be on anyone's side, but he also considers peace impossible. He doesn't like making threats; he's not inherently evil, but he's been trained to do so. He dislikes both his own and others.

Fran is a Croatian, a deserter from the Ustasha militia: He joined the unit in 1941, believing in a "greater Croatia." But after his unit massacred an entire Serbian village (including children), Fran broke down. He's no hero—he simply couldn't kill anymore. He was declared a traitor, and now he's fleeing from his own people. Fran can shoot, he carries a small pistol, but he's not very good at fighting up close. He doesn't like to make threats.